PGA 36 Hole Challenge at Stirling
I was looking forward to this event at Stirling as I enjoy the course and it’s just 15 minutes along the M80. I was playing with one player I knew and another I’d never met before on the first day so it was a good balance of conversation as we started our round together.
For the first few holes, I mainly chatted with the player I’d known, and we spoke about a fellow pro who I used to work with, someone who he is very friendly with and who would like to connect again.
I agreed that it would be good for us to catch up as it’s been too long so made a mental note to call him this week.
I mentioned about coming to our event in September and my playing partner thought it could work if the two of them brought a team along.
If that’s the case then we’d have 8 people at the event who have never been to an LGMS day and we want to welcome as many new faces as possible. I did reiterate there would be a Christian element to the day with a talk at the end but this didn’t seem to put him off although he doesn’t really have a faith.
I had a brief conversation with my other playing partner and although he also didn’t have any belief, he said that his grandparents attended Church and he was happy that it made them happy. An interesting comment and would have been good to chat more about that, but it’s always hard while playing to go too in-depth without appearing pushy or disrupting pace of play. I did get the feeling he was happy to leave it there though.
I’d played ok for most of the round but the final 6 holes were a result of a couple of slack drives, a couple of leaked approach shots and two three putts, all on different holes. 5 dropped shots in quick succession really upset the round and I began to question each aspect of my game and what caused it. A really disappointing finish to an encouraging start and just a bit frustrating.
After the game I encouraged my partners to keep in touch and they now have my contact details so we’ll see where it goes.
Day 2 at Stirling Golf Course
On day two I was still a bit confused as to my finish the day before but saw this as an opportunity to find out the main issues. I was again paired with one player I knew and another I’d never met.
For the first few holes I chatted to the player I didn’t know and got to explain what we do at LGMS. He didn’t have a faith as such but didn’t dismiss what I said. After our chat I thought there might have been a bit more to come but there was nothing more said and the two boys chatted more on their own. I didn’t take it personally as they probably had a bit more in common being much younger than me and we don’t always get the conversations we want all the time. We can only do what we can.
The golf was a little bit untidy for the front 9 but I could feel a bit more confidence going into the back 9, and after all I was using this round more as a bit of practise to identify any set up faults. I noticed that my hands had dropped a bit lower than usual but after straightening the arms slightly the shots seemed to be more accurate with a better strike. Just a bit lazy on the set up and need to keep this in mind as my age doesn’t allow me to get away with much anymore!
I was disappointed not to chat more with the boys but there were still some positives from the event and I briefly caught up with some other colleagues before I left who are more than happy to support LGMS events in any way they can.
This is encouraging and very much appreciated.
We keep going despite what we see. (Hebrews 11.1)
Vincent Brown, PGA Professional and Logos Golf Ministries Scotland Ambassador